• Raila Odinga asked the President to blow the whistle for the next phase of BBI.
• But DP William Ruto says there there should be an "inclusive national" dialogue on the initiative.
Image: PSCU
Deputy President William Ruto and ODM boss Raila Odinga on Tuesday appeared to be setting the stage for a grueling clash over the Building Bridges Initiative (BBI).
The fierce political rivals clashed during the 11 Mashujaa Day Celebrations marked at Gusii Stadium in Kisii over the yet to be release BBI report.
Raila, who spoke moments before the DP took to the stage, called on the President to blow the whistle for the next phase of BBI that he said was abruptly stopped by devil from above – Covid 19.
The devil, he said, forced the BBI reggae to take halftime, the period he reiterated has elapsed and thus the need for the president to give next direction on the initiative.
“The halftime is over and the players have had massage and the reggae is ready to start. It is you the President who will show us where to go from here,” Raila told the gathering.
But Ruto took a swift swipe at Raila, calling for an all-inclusive conversation on the BBI report, which was born out of the ‘Handshake’ between the former prime minister and President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The DP insisted that there was need to bring 'every' Kenyan on board to ensure the country realised the much needed unity and cohesion.
“My friend Opposition leader Raila Odinga has told us about the reggae, which is fine, but I guess we will have a robust national conversation that will bring everybody on board,” Ruto said in his brief address before welcoming to the President to the stage.
The clash points to what awaits the BBI report. The president is widely expected to receive the final report from the BBI taskforce and unveil it anytime this week.
The DP has been a fierce critic of the initiative and often termed it a dynasty agenda aimed at creating positions for a few people at the expense of the poor Kenyans.
But Raila said that country cannot continue moving in the same direction, 56 years after independence, adding there was need to chart a new path to realise the dreams of the forefathers.
“We need to look at what else that is missing so that Kenya can move forward as envisaged by our fore fathers,” he said.
Kisii Governor James Ongwae, who played host to the celebrations, lauded the ‘Handshake principals' for the ‘heroic’ initiative that presaged a new beginning of unity and inclusivity.
“That gesture of putting national interests above personal interest demonstrated the true spirit of Mashujaaism (Heroisim),” he said.
Ongwae also thanked the President’s Jubilee administration for transforming the county and the region as a whole.
The county boss cited 12 projects among them water and infrastructural projects which he said have turned around the lives of the people from the county.
“Kisii town was entirely marram but now the roads have been tarmacked. Stadium has been tarmacked. In the constituencies, a number of roads have been tarmacked,” he said.